KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 2): Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said it had imposed RM50 million in compound against i-Serve Group for accepting deposits without a licence.

The central bank also imposed a total of RM994,400 in administrative monetary policy (AMP) on three entities — TNG Digital Sdn Bhd, MPI Generali Insurans Bhd (MPGB) and Mandiri International Sdn Bhd (MISB) — for separate offences related to identification of their customers.

In a series of statements dated Sept 1, BNM said it imposed the RM50 million compound for seven entities within the i-Serve Group, for accepting deposits without a licence under Section 137(1) of the Financial Services Act (FSA) and for money laundering under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA).

The compound was issued on Oct 19, 2022 with the written consent of the public prosecutor under a joint enforcement action following BNM’s investigation, which found the offences were conducted between June 2018 and Sept 2021.

The seven entities are: i-Serve Online Mall Sdn Bhd (RM12.5 million), i-Serve Technology and Vacations Sdn Bhd (RM12.5 million), and QA Smart Partnership PLT, QA Elite Partnership PLT, QA Premium Partnership PLT, MM2217 PLT and Valuewise PLT (RM5 million each).

The entities paid the compound on Nov 16, BNM said.

Separately, BNM imposed an AMP of RM600,000 on TNG Digital on May 18, 2023 for contravening the FSA by onboarding two individuals sanctioned under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities (Declaration of Specified Entities and Reporting Requirements) (Amendments) Order 2014.

TNG Digital “failed to conduct sanctions screening” on the first sanctioned person, and failed to ascertain and make further enquiries that the second person matched with the United Nations Security Council Resolutions List or the Minister of Home Affairs Domestic List.

TNG Digital made the payment on May 31, it said.

On Dec 29, 2022, BNM imposed RM260,000 in AMP on MPGB for failure to conduct targeted financial sanctions screening on customers.

It onboarded a sanctioned person “due to the delay in real-time screening of MPGB customers against the Domestic and United Nations Securities Council Resolution List”, BNM said.

MPGB paid the penalty on Jan 6 this year, and has addressed the supervisory concerns, it added.

Prior to that, on April 12, 2022, BNM imposed an AMP of RM134,400 on MSIB for contravening the Money Services Business Act 2011, after it was discovered that a number of its customers had conducted remittance transactions on behalf of third parties.

Further examination revealed that “MISB had failed to identify and verify the beneficial owners (BOs) for the remittance transactions conducted”, BNM said. The penalty was paid on April 7 this year, the central bank added.